'Strictly Come Dancing' Small World Play Scene

We're loving the glitz, glam & sparkle of a Saturday night with 'Strictly Come Dancing' on our TV screen. My kiddo loves the show so much she's been inspired to create her own miniature version.

We're huge fans of the BBC TV show & avidly watch the amazing dancers each week. as well as catching up with all the news on 'It Takes Two' during the week on BBC2. Minnie loves the interviews with the dancers & all the fun of the weekday show, but her highlight has to be the weekly appearance of Vicky Gill, one of the costume designers for Strictly. Each week Vicky revels the costumes for the forthcoming show & shares the fabrics & dresses for the different celebrities. This has my girl captivated & she eagerly drinks in every detail! So it was no surprise really that she designed her own range of outfits for her Sylvanian Strictly stars.

A couple of weeks ago a friend gave us a bag of fabric remnants which my girl loved exploring & she was soon putting together mini outfits for her toys from the scrap materials. To create the dresses she cut a narrow length of fabric & wrapped it around the body of each toy figure, securing them in place with a loom band. These were super quick outfits with no-sewing needed, & were just held in place with good ol' loom bands. To add that extra sparkle she made tiaras by twisting a small strip of kitchen foil.

'Daisy & Alijaz' above certainly look ready for the ballroom.

The girls outfits were clearly much more fun to create than the boys as she tended to keep them in their original outfits, although she did customise some turning a small section of sparkly fabric into a stylish tie! I loved how this couple 'Judge Rinder & Oksana' complimented each other with Oksana sporting a very sparkly shrug, made from another length of fabric with two small holes cutout for the arms.

Minnie went on to create a selection of accessories for the dancers using her own sparkly hair ties & some lengths of pretty ribbon which she wrapped & tied around the outfits.

I think you'll agree 'Louise & Kevin' look beautiful in their outfits. I especially like the off the shoulder look, & the matching headband & dress!

Claudia & AJ are another of my girl's 'favourites' & they were apparently dressed ready for the Quickstep.

'Joanne & Ore' had by far the most glamorous outfits made from a fabulous gold fabric which she wrapped around the characters, tucking the loose ends in at the back. I think Ore's wraparound skirt looked very fine!

Of course if you're going to have a mini version of 'Strictly Come Dancing' you're going to need the judges! And here they are in their customised outfits. I'm note sure why Len is wearing a sarong & Bruno is sporting a loincloth (!) but they seem happy enough with the choices. Darcey looks gorgeous as ever in her sparkly dress & tinfoil tiara.

To create the ballroom Minnie emptied a Sylvanian residence & added silver glitter fabric to the bottom floor, along with a long table & 4 chairs for the judges, & a staircase for the dancers to enter. She set up the top floor of the house as a lounge area where dancers could meet Claudia Winkleman to discuss their scores. She added more chairs to the side of the house for the audience & her miniature Strictly set was ready.

Before the show could commence the judges needed the all important score paddles so Minnie cutout some small card circles, added numbers 1-10 & attached these to cocktail sticks (cut in half) with some small coloured stickers.

The stars of the show were ready & our small world play area was now ready for action!

Professional as ever the judges made their way down the staircase & took their seats behind the desk ready for the first couple to dance.

'Daisy & Alijaz' danced around the floor together, doing spins & lifts in front of the judges. Minnie found the playlist of tracksfor this year's series online & chose her favourites to accompany the dancers which she moved around the ballroom.

When the dancers had finished they joined Tess Daly to hear the judges comments.

The judges were very fair with their feedback apart from Craig who decided that each dance was a disaaaaster! Len of course was complimentary offering a loud 7 to each of the couples!

More dancers took to the floor & glided around to different tracks. I was amazed at how many of the dances she'd remembered from the show & how she chose music to fit the various styles.

Standing in font of the judges was tough, but the couples politely said 'thank you' after the feedback & headed up the stairs to see Claudia.

The lounge area where they met to hear & discuss the scores for each dance was a little full with every Sylvanian gathered around the couple to hear the news.

Listening to the voices Minnie used & the conversations, comments & humour that developed through her play was just magic.

There was also plenty of dancing on this level too, with everyone joining in together whether there was music playing or not.

Some couples were clearly so shocked by their scores they passed out on the floor!

The play continued with each couple taking to the dance floor in their new outfits, even the judges had a dance. Minnie clearly takes in so much of the show enjoying every aspect, although none of her couples were sent home as there was no dance off.

This DIY small world play scene has been used again & again. The outfits have been customised, new music tracks have been added, & it's provided some much needed sparkle on cold wet Autumn days.

I'm not sure which couple from this Sylvanian Strictly Come Dancing will receive the glitterball trophy, maybe they'll all share it, whatever happens I hope the fun & creativity that this small play scene has inspired never stops.

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